IHG Rewards Club Pointbreaks

IHG Rewards Club normally charges 10,000 to 70,000 points for a free night depending on the property. IHG’s award chart suffered a devaluation at the beginning of this year (when they added the 70k tier awards–they used to be capped at 60K). Check out what hotels changed in reward night price earlier this year.

Every few months, IHG Rewards Club releases a list of a select few hotels where you can stay for 5,000; 10,00; or 15,000 points per night.

Brief History of PointBreaks Changes

Over the last few years, the quality of hotels on the PointBreaks list hasbeen dropping. Especially over the last year, the majority of PointBreaks hotels were located in obscure places, or were just low-end places not many had an interest in booking.

Then IHG changed PointBreaks pricing in January of this year, adding two higher (but still discounted) tiers to the promotion: 10k points/night rooms, and 15k points/night rooms. While the list of 5k/night rooms shrunk, the addition of 10k and 15k/night rooms meant nicer options in more popular destinations.

To be clear, these 10k and 15k/night rooms are on sale from their standard award price.

What I Do With a New PointBreaks List

When a new list comes out, I check its end date then consult my travel schedule to figure out where I’ll be between now and then that I might want a hotel. I also consider trips I haven’t planned, but have been mulling. And finally I look for the incredible properties that normally cost upwards of 50,000 miles to see if I want to take an impromptu trip.

I note all the hotels that I might want to stay at.

Potential Problems and Their Solutions

Problem #1: Not every night is available at hotels that are on the list–and what availability there is can disappear quickly.

Solution: Book award space as soon as possible (check now!)

This leads to Problem #2.

Problem #2: I may want to change my plans later, but I may have to cancel the entire award to do that, costing me the chance at 5,000 point nights.

“Due to the limited availability, each member may only book two PointBreaks® Reward Nights reservations per hotel during the special offer time period.”

You have to make your best guess for when you’ll want to stay at a hotel. Or you can always make two reservations each from multiple accounts.

If you book more nights than you need, I also think it’s possible that by calling IHG or the hotel, you can trim some dates off a previous booking, but I can’t say for sure that would work.

Crown Plaza Perth, Australia; on the current PointBreaks list

Problem #3: I don’t have any IHG Rewards Club points.

Solution to this problem:

Buy IHG Points for roughly .6 cents a point (typically a little less) through the current Daily Getaways* promotion if you want to buy smaller amounts. None of the packages are sold out yet.

*Daily Getaways is a series of daily discounted travel packages sponsored by the US Travel Association that started four weeks ago and runs for three more days. Every weekday (typically at 1 PM ET), a discounted travel package or packages will go on sale, and the best deals sell out in just a few minutes. The best deals tend to be the selling of hotel points at super low prices or the purchasing of underpriced certificates for hotel stays and car rentals. I think it will take IHG points purchased through possibly up to 10 days to hit your account, so if you’re worried about availability, it’s better buy through this points.com sale detailed below in bold.

Buying points through Daily Getaways means a 5,000 point/night hotel would cost about $30, a 10,000 point/night hotel would cost about $60, and a 15,000 point/night hotel would cost about $90.

However, if you are wanting at least 20,000 IHG points, then buy them through this points.com sale. You will be buying them for .56 cents each, which knocks down the price per room a bit more than the point prices above.

Big Caveat

Not all hotels are on the PointBreaks list. Not all nights are available as 5k/10k/15k point award nights at the hotels that are on the list. Check availability before buying points, and also check the cash price on your desired dates and compare that to how much you’d spend buying points to make sure it’s not a better

Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium, on the current PointBreaks list

Hotels on the List

The list is mostly Holiday Inns, Holiday Inn Expresses, and Crown Plazas abroad plus Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites in the United States. Now with the higher tier 10k and 15k discounted awards, there are also a couple Hotel Indigos and InterContinentals on the list as well.

Here are some properties that caught my eye because of location or just looking nice:

Holiday Inn Auburn-Finger Lakes Region, Auburn, New York; on the current PointBreaks list

IHG Card Angle

If you have the IHG Rewards Club Premier Card from Chase, you will get a free award night for any stays of four nights or longer.

You’ll also earn Platinum Elite status at IHG Properties and a free night at any IHG hotel that costs 40k points/night or less each year after your card member anniversary. And yea–the card is issued by Chase. But the 5/24 rule is known not to apply. Right now the card has an 80k point public sign up offer.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Credit Cards.

Bottom Line

This is a list of hotels you can book for 5k to 10k points or $30 to $90 per night. The best way to take advantage of the list is to be active ASAP, as good hotels in popular destinations sell out quickly.

Which hotel will you stay at for $30 / $60 / $90? What do you think of the new PointBreaks promotion structure?

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Sarah Page Maxwell became a miles nerd after moving her base to Buenos Aires and beginning a transient lifestyle that would be otherwise too expensive without miles and points. In addition to travel, her other passions include hot sauce, yoga, and her boston terrier Omar.

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Content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers. These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered. For more information or to see the MileValue Privacy Policy, click here.

Sarah Page Maxwell is a miles aficionado and avid traveler, born in Virginia, raised in North Carolina, and currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has earned and redeemed millions of miles for herself and others. Traveling for free, the 29-year-old has been to 20+ countries, making sure to catch as many sunsets in each that she can.

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MileValue is the only miles-and-points blog that thinks systematically about the value of your miles and how to maximize that value!

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.